Unbreakable
by roxiifoxii
Summary: ... A stir of emotion rustled in her, making her pulse quicken slightly. Somehow Clint would say her name in that way that he did, and in that moment all of her worries would melt away. It was a pure and honest kind of happiness she felt; an effect very few people had on her. The corner of her mouth drew up into a tiny sideways smile, and she felt a warm glow rise to her cheeks.
1. Chapter 1- Disassembled

**Unbreakable**

Chapter 1 – _Disassembled_

Off of a main highway, 13 miles down a twisted road and tucked beyond a hidden dirt path shrouded in a forest of dense trees laid a tiny quiet beach. It couldn't have been a 10 foot walk from the forest's edge to the ocean water, and perhaps an entire 30 feet in length from side to side. On either end, jagged rocks curved into the sand and abruptly jutted upwards and out over the ocean, guiding the forest beyond the water's edge.

The beach was a well-kept secret to most, and perhaps only a handful of people had ever stumbled across it by mistake while exploring the forest. One would even call the beach deserted, if it were not for the two people who stood there in the sand in silence, staring out into the horizon.

Once known as Director Nick Fury and the Black Widow, they now stood side by side in regular clothes, their former identities a thing of the past.

Fury lifted a hand across his brow, to shade himself from the sunlight. Beside him, Natasha brushed back her fiery red hair as it blew in the wind and narrowed her eyes at something that glistened out in the distance.

"I see them."

Fury nodded his head, peering through a pair of military-grade binoculars. "I can see the outline of the jet a few miles out." He answered. "I advised Agent Hill against getting too close, though. Don't want any locals to catch sight of them… they'll have to take a boat in the rest of the way."

Another silence settled between them as Natasha cast her eyes down to the sand.

"Romanoff, I trust you are also prepared to remove yourself from the public eye for the time being?" he asked her, noting her silence.

Natasha sighed inwardly and nodded to her former commanding officer. After what had transpired over the past few weeks, she knew it would be for the best.

Her fellow Avengers- once her friends- had split onto two opposing sides to fight against each other, which drove a rift between them so deep she wondered if it could ever be repaired. She had tried to play both sides, to try to mend their bond by helping both Tony and then Steve, but had only managed to alienate herself from Stark and once again become an enemy in the eyes of the US government, for conspiring with "criminals." Steve had disappeared as well, after his standoff at the prison, forcefully arranging the release of Wanda, Sam, Scott, and Clint.

At the thought of her friend, she could feel her pulse quicken and her heart twinge with guilt.

Clint…

Her dear friend had been caught up in this mess, and had paid a heavy price for it. He had been thrown into a secluded, high-security prison, along with the Witch, Falcon, and Ant Man to suffer for their actions in defending Steve.

Luckily, Fury and Maria Hill had assisted Steve in freeing the four, and granted them safe passage from the prison in one of Shield's jets. Fury had briefly filled Natasha in on the events that played out at the prison while they stood on the beach; although Steve had muscled his way inside the doors of the prison, they knew they would have to more carefully execute their escape. Instead of breaking out and living as fugitives (and technically enemies of the United States of America), Wanda had used her "abilities" to manipulate the Secretary of Defense's recollection of the most recent events, as well as the majority of the soldiers on guard there.

Although she still had a long way to go in controlling her abilities, Wanda had suggestively rearranged a few of their memories, making them "remember" coming to an agreement to allow the former Avengers to go free. Of course, this was still a risky operation, as the Secretary remained very much against the idea of the Avengers. That was something Wanda could not manipulate. Although free, they all had been strictly cautioned by Fury to fly under the radar for the foreseeable future.

Fury and Agent Hill had then split everyone into small groups once they had exited the prison in an attempt to quickly distance them from one another. Everyone had received folders with instructions on how to contact Fury or Agent Hill, should the need arise in an emergency. Sam, Wanda, and Natasha's folders also contained coordinates to separate, undisclosed locations, which would lead them each to a safe house since they did not have families or homes to return to.

This deserted stretch of beach was the planned drop-off location for Clint and Scott. Fury and Hill would then drop off Wanda and Sam somewhere remote, and eventually they would all part ways. It was all for the best; the world needed to forget about the Avengers for now.

The gentle rush of the tide brushed against the toe of her shoe, stirring Natasha from her deep thoughts. She looked out over the cerulean waters and caught sight of a small sleek motorized boat making its way towards them over the surf.

She watched as the boat drifted up to the shore until it drove itself into the sand, getting wedged in the shallow surf. Scott was first to climb from the boat, clumsily splashing the water onto his pant legs and shirt, almost falling in the process.

Fury sighed at the sight of Scott fumbling around and looked to Natasha. "Looks like my work is done here. I'm heading back with Agent Hill for the time being." He held out a manila folder and handed it to her. "Until next time, Ms. Romanoff. You and Barton better take care of yourselves."

Natasha gripped the folder in her arms. In this folder were the coordinates of her temporary new home.

"Thank you, sir, for everything you have done." She said gratefully. "Adjusting will be tough, but it's nice to know we have allies we can trust."

Fury nodded in response and turned to walk back towards the boat. From behind him, Natasha could see the familiar form of Clint rise up from inside the boat. He shook hands with Fury and exchanged a few words. He then jumped from the boat effortlessly (almost gracefully compared to Scott, she noted) and started his way towards the shore.

Scott had made it over to Natasha first, and stopped in front of her at the edge of the water, squinting in the sunlight.

"So… we're cool now, right?" he asked, with a hint of uncertainty. "Because it would really suck to have to fight you again… plus I'm really tired from our super daring and dramatic prison break."

Natasha felt the corner of her mouth tug into a slight smirk. The Ant Man sure did have a sense of humor. "You'd already be on your ass if I was going to fight you again." she answered, walking towards him into the surf. Scott moved out of her way quickly, splashing more water on himself, not sure if she would take a swing at him or not.

Natasha continued past Scott and stopped when she reached Clint. He stood there in front of her, the sunlight shining from behind him, peeking around his body and landing in the tips of his hair, causing them to glow in the light.

He sighed visibly and looked down at her; his light blue eyes seemed a clouded over and his handsome features seemed mixed with emotion as he stared into hers. It felt like forever since she had shared a quiet moment with him. Would he be angry with her? After everything that had happened, would things be different now?

"Hey, Nat."

A stir of emotion rustled in her upon hearing his greeting, making her pulse quicken slightly. Somehow Clint would say her name in _that_ _way_ that he did, and in that moment all of her worries would melt away. It was a pure and honest kind of happiness she felt; an effect very few people had on her. The corner of her mouth drew up into a tiny sideways smile, and she felt a warm glow rise to her cheeks.

"It's good to have my best friend back." She said quietly. As soon as she spoke the end of her sentence, she realized how timid she felt about the topic. "At least, I hope we are still friends after everything." She added cautiously.

Clint narrowed his eyes in what seemed like either concern or some other unknown reason that she couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Is there a reason we shouldn't be?" he challenged, still impossibly hard to read.

Natasha frowned, and was about to answer back when the sound of Scott loudly clearing his throat interrupted her.

"Sorry, um… hello, hi… I didn't mean to interrupt, but I'm going to get going now." he interjected somewhat nervously, stepping backwards towards the forest and holding up a folder of his own. "I've got a lot of explaining to do to a certain little girl of mine once I get back. I believe I've missed a bunch of tea parties I was supposed to attend."

Clint nodded to him fondly and lifted his hand up in a wave. "Take care of yourself."

Natasha turned to face Scott as well, watching as the chipper man flashed them a cheesy grin and hopped off into the woods.

"I'm assuming that means he has a family to go back to?" Natasha questioned.

"A daughter" Clint answered. "Apparently she lives with his ex-wife and her husband. Scott's staying with Hank Pym, the one who created that suit of his. He'll be safe there."

Natasha nodded, recognizing the inventor's name.

"I suppose we should be leaving as well." Clint added suddenly, walking past Natasha, towards the forest. "It's probably best if we put some distance between ourselves and this place."

She frowned slightly. Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed like there was something else bothering the archer, other than the obvious. He seemed tired and distant which was of course to be expected but… there was something else there too.

Natasha hesitated only for a moment before following Clint as he retreated into the woods, feeling the sand fade out from under her boots, until she was once again walking on grass. The shade of the dense trees overhead soon blocked out the majority of the warm sunlight, and the beach could no longer be seen.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! This is my first Avengers/Marvel themed fan fic but definitely not my first fan fiction I've ever written. I don't really have a set vision for this story as of now, so I'm not really sure how long it will be. I'm just letting inspiration kinda' guide me on this one. I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to send me reviews! This story is definitely going to be based around Clint and Natasha, and will definitely have some chapters that get graphic, in terms of violence and sexual content- just a heads up!

That's all for now, I'll start working on chapter 2. Thanks again for reading! :3

xo Jennie


	2. Chapter 2- Home

**Unbreakable**

Chapter 2 _\- Home_

The sturdy tires of the red jeep crunched through the last of the dirt road as it finally met with the smooth pavement of the highway. Natasha looked out the window, watching the trees blend into a blur of green as they picked up speed. She stared into her own eyes in the reflection of the window for a few minutes, before turning to the manila folder in her lap.

 _The moment of truth…_ she thought to herself.

She opened the folder to reveal a small stack of papers neatly paper-clipped together. She flipped up the first page which had been purposely left blank for confidentiality. As she began to read the second page, her brows furrowed in confusion. Her name was not at the top of the page. It was Clint's.

Beneath his name were the coordinates of an address, followed by a paper with some basic instructions on how to remain "off the grid" as much as possible. The following page looked to be a map.

"Clint, this has your name on it." She began, still unsure of the situation. She looked over to him, watching as his hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.

"Yeah, yours should be in there too." He answered plainly.

Natasha frowned and removed all of the pages from the folder. Sure enough, behind the map was a page that looked identical to his, only with her name at the top instead. In fact, it looked completely identical. She read through the numbers of the coordinates three times, following her finger along to be sure she wasn't missing something. The numbers were the same.

 _Why wouldn't he be going back to his family?_ She wondered to herself. _That was kept completely confidential to everyone except Fury and myself… no one would know._

"I don't understand." She said eventually, at a loss for words. "You aren't going home?"

She looked up at him, but couldn't read his expression from behind his dark sunglasses. When he spoke, however, she could hear in the tone of his voice that something wasn't right.

"It just isn't in the cards, Nat."

She frowned and stared back down at the papers in front of her, trying to make sense of it all.

 _…_ _But why?_

The jeep suddenly jerked sideways, as they pulled over to the side of the road, kicking up a cloud of dirt in the process. Natasha snapped her head up from the papers, alarmed.

"What is it?" she asked. "What happened?"

Clint sighed and took off his sunglasses, rubbing his eyes.

"Nat… there's so much I haven't told you." He started, sounding tired. "Things haven't exactly made it easy for me to talk to you lately."

Natasha felt a wave of nervousness wash over her, although she didn't quite understand why. All of a sudden the jeep felt very small, very uncomfortably cramped, and she felt the urge to open the door and step out for some air.

"I wanted to tell you what was going on for a while now, but I guess didn't want to admit it was real. I thought that if I kept it to myself that it would somehow go away. Obviously that was foolish of me."

Clint started out at the road ahead of them, as a few cars sped past.

"Laura and I- we aren't together anymore."

Natasha's eyes widened and she could feel her lips part open in shock, although she fought off the urge to completely gape at him. Clint sighed deeply again, and then turned to face her, and she snapped her mouth closed again.

"I'm telling you this because you are my closest friend… my only friend now. If this makes you uncomfortable in any way, please let me know and I won't continue." He said, his blue eyes staring into hers. There was an incredible sadness in them, and they appeared to be pleading with her, to allow him to continue. "I don't want to put any more stress on you than you already have."

Natasha frowned, suddenly feeling ashamed for the mysterious nervousness she had felt moments ago. Clint knew so much about her, more than anyone else did, and she never had to feel like she had to hide anything from him. He had always been there for her, no matter what- no matter how hard or heavy the situation was. Now that the tables were turned, surely he deserved a chance to get this off his chest.

"Of course you can tell me." She replied, meeting his gaze. "You can always tell me anything, Clint, you know that."

A small hint of a smile crept at the corner of Clint's mouth for a moment, hearing her assurance, and he nodded.

"I know." He answered. There was a slight pause before he continued, as he gathered his thoughts.

"Things started to go downhill with Laura and I after New York." He began. "She always knew what my job meant for us- for our family. She knew there were crazy risks involved but she always supported me. After New York though, I could tell something had changed. When I got home after everything was finally over, I walked in on her watching a news broadcast that was airing footage from the attack on the city. I could see that she was visibly upset. I think that was the first time everything became real for her… up until that point, she had a vague idea of what I was doing, but I don't think she understood until she saw all of the news broadcasts and watched the footage of us fighting."

The corners of his mouth dropped into a frown.

"We had a long talk that night, and she basically told me that she didn't want this life for me anymore. She was scared that one day she would open the door and see Fury standing there, and he would tell her I was dead." He said grimly. "That was also when she told me she was pregnant with our third child, Nathaniel. I desperately tried to assure her nothing like what happened in New York would ever happen again, and I would try my best to be home as much as possible. I took a bunch of time off whenever I could- you know I was never really around the team that much after that."

Natasha nodded, remembering the events that came after what took place in New York. She had known Clint went back home, and had taken time to be with his family. She didn't realize the reasons behind all of that until now, however.

"I wanted things to be normal- for us to be a normal, happy family, as stereotypical as that sounds." Clint added, his voice growing sad. He paused and looked down at his hands, which were still resting on the steering wheel of the jeep.

"When Fury called us all back for that mission before Ultron, I realized how much I had missed everyone, and how great it was to be a part of the team. Of course, then there was me almost getting my side blown off and then everything that happened with Ultron and all… and when I brought you all back to my home I honestly wasn't sure how Laura would take it." He said. "Surprisingly, she seemed supportive, and told me she was proud of me for all the good I was doing, but to make sure my team had my back as much as I had theirs. I didn't realize it then, but I think that was kind of like the last chance she was giving me... to do what I had to do, and then to come home."

Natasha followed along with his words, thinking back to that day, when they had said goodbye to Clint's family and walked through the fields back to their jet. She had turned back around to catch one more glimpse at his family and wave goodbye to the kids, and had seen the sadness in Laura's eyes. It had kind of caught her off guard, as Laura had been so chipper when she said goodbye to her moments before. As they had rose into the sky in the jet, Natasha could see the tiny outline of Laura still standing on the porch, where she had been when they left.

Clint was quiet for a moment before continuing, and Natasha knew he was most likely thinking back to those events as well.

"Once again, after everything, I had gone home, back to my family. That was going to be it for me- I was going to retire from this life. I just had a really hard time reverting back to regular life… I had watched that kid die to protect me, and I know that should have been me dying instead of him. That haunted me for a long time after. I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking of all the 'what ifs.' When Nathaniel was born, Laura agreed to add Pietro's name as his middle name, hoping that would help ease my guilt. When it didn't, that was when the fights with Laura started. She didn't understand what I had gone through in Sokovia, and had no patience to help me cope with what I was going through. She accused me of not wanting to be there with them, with my family, and that my mind was never in the present. She said I was a different person, more like a stranger to her, and she didn't feel the connection we used to have. That broke my heart." The last part of his sentence seemed to catch in his throat and his voice quivered a bit.

"It wasn't long after that when I found out there was another man- someone who had been able to be there for her when I was gone all those times. He's just some regular guy, who started out helping with the groceries at the store, who came over a few times to fix the tractor, who helped coached the kids' baseball team, and wound up staying over one night after dinner… and proved he could be a better husband and father than I was." He said. "Of course, I tried fighting back, trying to hold onto what we used to have, what we could have… but then I realized Laura was right. We had grown apart, and there was no real love there anymore between us. Towards the end, all we did was fight. She was so cold and distant, and I knew I wasn't a good husband or a good father. The truth is, so often I felt trapped within my own home- I started to miss being an agent, an Avenger. I wanted to go on missions and make a difference somewhere… I wanted to fix things. That's why I always felt compelled to do work around the house; unnecessary work in all honesty. You know, I would always try to rearrange the rooms and knock down a wall just to be able to fix something. There would be nights where I'd be awake so late the sun was starting to come up before I went to bed, because when I was fixing things I felt happy, and I didn't want that feeling to go away."

Clint sighed and traced his hand along the jeep's engraved steering wheel, feeling the bumps in the leather's design.

"The kids don't quite understand yet, and of course they completely support Laura in all of this. They don't want to see me at all, and I can't say that I'm surprised or I blame them. I rarely have seen my kids over the years I worked with Shield, so how can I expect them to want to see their father now, after he's been away for so long and has seemingly broken their mother's heart?" He said, shaking his head. "It's pathetic, I wanted so badly to fix things and do good in the world, and I wound up destroying my family in the process."

Natasha brought her hand to her mouth, surprised at his words. "Clint…" she began hesitantly. He turned to her, visibly trying to fight his emotions from coming through. Years upon years of intense training with Shield had taught him to be able to endure physical torture in case he was held hostage for classified information if a mission had gone wrong and now here he was, about to break down and cry in a jeep on the side of some road.

"It's going to be okay." He interrupted, unsure if he was directing that statement more to Natasha or himself. "In the middle of all that, when Cap reached out to me and told me what was going on with him and Tony, and the government… I knew I needed to help. Even though it landed me in that prison and made me feel like even more of a horrible father and husband, it confirmed that this life of mine was never something I could have while also having a family. It's not fair to me, to Laura, or to the kids, and I know that now."

Natasha was never really good when it came to emotional support, or knowing what to do when she had to console someone who was upset. This was mainly why she found herself surprised when her hand instinctively flew to her seatbelt clasp and unbuckled herself. The papers tumbled from the manila folder and onto the floor as she leaned across the console dividing the two front seats and pulled him into her arms as best she could from that angle. Her arms curled around his neck and she let herself fall forward until her chest was against him and she rested her forehead onto his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Clint. I'm so sorry for everything." She spouted, her voice muffled against his body.

To hell with her emotions and her tough "Black Widow" exterior. Everything else so far had gone to shit, so there was no point in keeping it professional now.

Clint was just as shocked as she was at her actions, but at the same time, he didn't feel the reflex to move away from her embrace. In fact he moved into it, inviting her closer, and wrapping his arms around her slender frame as she balanced against him. Her hair brushed against his cheek as she rested her forehead against his shoulder and he leaned into it more, closing his eyes.

"You are always going to have one person in this world, no matter what." Natasha said, finally pulling away from him. Her hands moved to the console, so she was propped up in between both seats, with her knees resting on her seat, and stared right into his blue eyes. Warmth filled her as she spoke, and she was unsure what brought it on, or why her cheeks suddenly felt hot, but she didn't stop talking.

"After everything that has happened, I know that it might feel completely impossible to keep going. I just want you to know how grateful I am to have you in my life. You are my best friend, and my only friend as well, Clint. I will never leave you; I will never think less of you. I am here for you no matter what, and we are going to make the best of this new location until we are able to become Avengers again. If that doesn't happen, well that's fine too, because I know wherever you are, I'm home."

Clint's cheeks were also burning, and he prayed she couldn't see that. He stared into her intense green eyes as she spoke, feeling emotion well up inside of him at her frank words.

"I can't… thank you enough Nat…" he managed to stutter.

Natasha smiled and settled back into her seat, fastening her seatbelt once more. She picked up the papers, and passed him one with the coordinates.

"Let's get going." She said, as she opened up the map.

Clint looked from her to the paper and back to her. Just like that, Natasha was back to being her old self. He nodded, typed the coordinates into their GPS, and pulled the jeep back onto the road. The memories of what had transpired between them swirled around in his head, and he found it hard to catch his breath as her last words echoed through his mind.

 _Wherever you are, I'm home._

* * *

Author's Note:

Hello! Thanks for reading chapter 2! Hopefully there aren't too many Clint & Laura fans out there that want to skewer me right now. Ever since I had seen Age of Ultron, I dreamed of ways to see around that pairing. I am a true Clintasha lover, inside and out. To be honest, I felt like they set up all of those subtle hints and chemistry between Clint and Natasha in the first Avengers movie, and then ruined it in the second movie by making him married and her with Bruce... Oh well it's fixed now in my mind! :3

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and like the direction this has gone in so far. Thanks again for reading!

Xoxo Jeni


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